North Beach High School Hyaks wrestlers Natasha Früh and Garrett Armbruster both came home from the Washington State Mat Classic XXX Championships at the Tacoma Dome last weekend with third place medals.

Senior Früh had a great start in the 235 lb. weight class Friday, pinning a junior from Richland, Reggan Grade, in 26 seconds. But later that afternoon, she lost by a major decision score of 8-0 to senior Veronique Abaglo of Fife. An hour later, she collected herself after the tough loss to pin senior Esperanza Aparcio-Gamez of White River in 1:30.

The next day Früh faced Thomas Jefferson (Federal Way) sophomore Goddess Ma’Alona-Faletoga, pinning her in 1:57 in the first round. Next, she was up against sophomore Chanel Siva from Stanwood, who lasted into the third round before Früh got the pin at the 4:04 mark.

She performed her final rounds as a high school wrestler in a rematch against Fife’s Abaglo, who had her on her back for nearly 20 seconds in the third round. Down by a score of 3-2 with 40 seconds left in the match, Früh scored a reversal and took Abaglo to her back for near fall points, winning the match 7-3 and taking third place in the state meet.

Garrett Armbruster, a 10th grader at North Beach, started the state tournament in the 2B boys 126 lb. class with a bye thanks to winning the regional tournament at Kalama the weekend before. In the quarterfinals, Armbruster defeated Colby Slate of Colfax 18-4. Saturday morning, he had to face the defending state champion, Chris Rivera from Tonasket, who got the pin at 1:19 of the first round.

In the semi-final consolation match, he wrestled Ghannon Welden from Ilwaco. The two had traded wins at the sub-regional and regional meets. A pin in 42 seconds won Armbruster the chance to wrestle another common foe for third place. He was 1-1 on the season against Riley Fichter from Concrete. Their match went three rounds before Armbruster won by major decision 7-3, to take the third-place medal.